This forum is for Audacity 2.x.x on Mac OS X 10.4 and later.Please state which version of OS X you are using, the exact three-section version of Audacity from Audacity > About Audacity and whether you obtained the .dmg installer or the zip.

Audacity 1.2.x and 1.3.x are obsolete and no longer supported. If you still have those versions, please upgrade at https://www.audacityteam.org/download/.The old forums for those versions are now closed, but you can still read the archives of the 1.2.x and 1.3.x forums.

One generally accepted method of solving application issues is to reinstall it and make it start over. Audacity doesn't start over because of the hang-over effect caused by saving effects, plugins, setups and configs for graceful upgrades. Unfortunately, this just kills you if you do have damage in any of those processes.

Audacity leaves you with the impression that you started over when you have done no such thing.

I've been through the Man on installing the Mac version and it doesn't appear to have a Burn It Off, Hose It Down and Start Over process. At least none I could find.

I want no part of the program left when I finish. How would I do that?

If there is such a process, it should be right up there in the first paragraph of the Man, in my opinion.

There are comparitively easy ways to get a total-wipe (I do it all the time when I am QA testing).

I have shortcuts on my desktops (W10 and macOS Sierra) that hve all the config stuff for prefs and settings and the plug-ins etc) - so when I want a total wipe I open up that folder from the desktop and delelete the entire contents. Restart Audacity and that folder gets repopulated with the clean-wipe.

The reason for the shortcuts is that on neither platform is it particularly easy to locate the folder (well I always find it so - it's obsure on Windows an Mac hides it somewhat - I had to ask a Macolyte friend, taking my Macbook to the pub one night ... )

I'll have a think about putting some advice in the Manual along those lines (maybe on the install pages - maybe FAQ - maybe both)

I have no idea how Linux handles this, but I'm guessing there's something similar you can do.

waxcylinder wrote:I have no idea how Linux handles this, but I'm guessing there's something similar you can do.

On Linux it's pretty straightforward for a standard install:1) Open the "home" folder (opens "/home/user-name" in the default file browser)2) "Ctrl+H" to show hidden folders (works in most common file browsers, or "View menu > Show hidden files")3) There it is, "./audacity-data" - delete that.Audacity is now virgin fresh.

• In the sidebar of a Finder window, click on your username (it will have a house icon beside it)• Click on the View menu and select Show View Options

There is a possibility that the user has turned off display of the home/username in Finder Preferences, so perhaps we need to give the Go menu alternative to finding the Application Support folder? There's also the possibility that they've hidden the sidebar.

BTW, in the dialog that results from Go > Go to Folder … you can type "~/Library/Application Support" so no need to confuse things by mentioning "username" in this context.